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INSIDE
Robert S. Harrison
Read our special wedding section in this week’s paper.
Guest column
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Letters to the editor
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Play festival
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The
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VOLUME 37, NUMBER 9 • MARCH 4, 2014
Latest CAO chapter coming March 5 By Steve Wehrly Journal reporter
Another chapter in the seemingly unending Critical Areas Ordinance update process is reaching a conclusion. The San Juan County Council is scheduled to complete the current installment at a March 5 special meeting. But this
chapter is far from the end of the story. At a Feb. 25 public hearing, the council considered 26 amendments to three of four critical areas ordinances originally passed in late 2012, which were intended to bring the environmental and construction permitting regulations into compliance with the state Growth
Thrift Shop Grant Application March 1-31 Non-profit, 501(c)(3), organizations on Lopez Island interested in receiving a grant from Lopez Thrift Shop is invited to submit an application. The application packets will be available at the Lopez Thrift Shop and Lopez Library beginning March 1 and must be submitted by March 31, 2014.
Mail applications to:
Lopez Thrift Shop PO Box 274 Lopez Island, WA 98261
Lopez School Drama Club ✧
presents ✧
10th Annual Festival of One-Act Plays
Dinner Theatre at the Galley!
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday March 5, 6, 7 Dinner from 5pm; Show at 6:45pm Call the Galley for reservations:
Dinner and Show: $30 Show only: $5 at the door (available 6:30 pm)
Management Act. “All of us have reservations about the CAO, but we have worked together and we have been able to approve options provided by the planning commission that will put the county in compliance,” SJC Council Chairman Rick Hughes said. An “update” of four critical areas regulations was originally required by the GMA to be completed by 2006, but procedural and substantive impediments delayed completion until 2012. The council’s 2012 enactments were then appealed to the Growth Management Hearings Board in early 2013 by property rights advocates and environmentalists. A September 2013 decision by the board essentially upheld objections advanced by the Friends of the San Juans that the critical areas ordinances failed to comply with the GMA in nine respects. Contentions advanced by the Common Sense Alliance and other property rights advocates were rejected by the board. Both the Alliance and Friends of the San Juans
have appealed the hearings board decision in San Juan County Superior Court. That action is under consideration by Judge Don Eaton, and further appeals could still be pursued in the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court. In addition, any party or the county can bring additional legal action in response to the decision by the Hearings Board regarding the amendments expected to be passed on March 5. The revisions now under consideration by the council address a range of noncompliance issues identified by the hearings board, which in its order in September 2013 required the county to respond by passing amendments by March 5. The council also extended the date of the critical areas ordinances go into effect several times, now set for March 31. The amendments under consideration deal with several contentious issues for protecting critical areas, including the definition of “development,” exemptions for utilities, protection of “functions and values” from development in Fish and Wildlife Habitat Critical
Pancake Breakfast!
March 8th, 9-11 @LCCA Lopez Baseball & Softball fundraiser
Areas, and wetland protection rating-system categories and water quality buffers. The most far-reaching amendment abandons the complex, site-specific 13-category wetland and water quality rating system devised by the county in the 2012 and substitutes a four-category rating system developed by the Washington state Department of Ecology. The rating system is used to determine water quality buffers and habitat buffers, and requires landowners to use a “qualified professional” - a paid water-quality consultant - to establish the applicable wetland rating category and buffers. Friends’ attorney Kyle Loring believes the council “in general took steps to address concerns expressed in the growth board’s decision but we will look closely at provisions, such as the expanded utility exemption, and we may still express any disappointments we have to the growth board.” Councilman Hughes said the proposed amendments will satisfy the hearings board, but he’s prepared to revisit the ordinances if the board or the courts require further changes. Councilman Jamie Stephens said: “it was not an easy task to keep the focus” on complying with the hear-
ings board, but he agrees with Hughes that “when it’s implemented, we’ll find out what works and doesn’t work, and make necessary changes.” Councilman Bob Jarman, just back from a hospital stay with a difficult staph infection, joined his colleagues in asking for future changes. “I still feel the CAO is anti-development and needs further work,” Jarman said. “As Tom Starr said, what is the problem we’re trying to fix? We need to finish these amendments for the hearings review board now, but someday we need to come back to these ordinances and take one item at a time and correct it.” After receiving the county’s report regarding compliance with the Sept. 2013 order, the hearings board will accept objections to the amendments and responses to those objections. The board will convene another hearing, set for April 24, to determine whether the amendments comply with the September 2013 order. Further action by the county may be required by the board, and further appeals to the superior court can be pursued. Final wrap-up of superior court legal actions, plus appeals, may be several years in the future.
3 Business Workshops One-on-One Business Consults
Get professional, individualized advice to move your business or business idea forward. Instructor: Brian Jaeger. Meets 3/8.
Create a WordPress Website or Blog
WordPress is free for business or personal use. Instructor: Adrienne Adams. Meets Mar. 4, 6 &13.
SAT • MARCH 8 • WOODMEN HALL 2 PM • Texas Swing Workshop $15/$20 • PRE-REGISTER www.lifrc.org
7:30 PM • Concert with dancing room! $15 Adults • Youth $10, 18 + under • AT THE DOOR Benefit LI Family Resource Center and Lopez Senior Services
Marketing Workshops
How to Get 25 New Customers day 1 and Online Marketing Made Simple day 2. Take both or just one class. You’ll be inspired! Instructor: James Dunn. Meets 3/22 & 3/23 Registration required. Early bird discounts! Details at www.lifrc.org or call 468-4117
Thank you!
To Ronnie Lopez, Jeff Nichols, Vaughan Williams, and the intrepid golfers of the Soggy Bottom Golf Tournament. Your generosity allows us to help our Lopezian neighbors in need, and is much appreciated. Lopez Island Hospice & Home Support